As soon as his words ended, a strong gust of wind attacked.
Feng Lingzi appeared in front of Li Xiaobai in an instant, and with a solid slap to the head, Li Xiaobai tumbled 720 degrees in place, and then landed face down.
Li Xiaobai was astonished. What just happened? He had no mental preparation at all, and the effect of this skill was just too powerful.
Had he not retracted the skill in time, he felt his head would have been slapped off.
"You call yourself a genius?"
"Not a trace of spiritual energy in your body, you must be living in a dream!"
Feng Lingzi spat in disdain, puffing his beard and glaring. This disciple had joined the sect only a few days ago and was already causing too much worry.
Li Xiaobai dusted off his buttocks, his face dirty with dust, and left.
The recent incident taught him a lesson, skills are good, but they shouldn't be misused.
Using them on ordinary disciples might yield good results, but against a master, one might get slapped to death on the spot.
It seems he needed to be more selective about his targets in the future; he decided not to use this skill on those with higher cultivation for now—it was too terrifying.
At this moment, he had fifty more attribute points in the System, as the slap from his master was harder than yesterday's, and his head had completely swollen up like a pig's.
He poured all the attribute points into defensive power.
[Defense: Mortal Flesh (60/1000) Advancement possible.]
After taking some elixirs for healing, Li Xiaobai decided to have a walk around the sect.
One reason was to familiarize himself with the environment, and the other was to find some suitable people to punch his face in.
A few senior brothers and sisters were too strong, and when they fought, they did so without holding back; he found them a bit too much to handle.
Feng Lingzi and the seven disciples occupied a mountain peak, a privilege given by the Sect Leader. The mountain where he was located was called Misty Peak.
Together, there were only seven of them, master and disciples, no servants, no menial workers.
To interact with others, he had to go down the mountain.
"Eh, isn't that Junior Brother Li?"
"Have you been beaten by master again?"
A female cultivator wearing a green silk dress approached from down the mountain and said with a light smile upon seeing Li Xiaobai's appearance.
Li Xiaobai's eyes widened; this was Misty Peak's second senior sister, Ye Wushuang, skilled in healing arts, always gentle and tender, a stark contrast to Senior Sister Su Yunbing.
Ye Wushuang was a renowned beauty of the Immortal Feather Sect. Now that they had met here, it would be a shame not to make a move and take advantage of his System.
"This was done by Senior Sister, of course, master also had a hand in it, but let's not talk about that."
Mentioning the sad experience, Li Xiaobai felt somewhat depressed.
"You've been diligently practicing every day. How could senior sister and master punish you? Come here, let this senior sister take a look at you."
Ye Wushuang took out her silver needles and medicinal wine, ready to treat him.
Watching Ye Wushuang's actions, Li Xiaobai blurted out.
"Senior Sister, your fingers are so rough, surely it's because you often do acupuncture and don't take care of them!"
Ye Wushuang didn't react much, still holding a sweet smile on her lips, but for some reason, Li Xiaobai felt a bit uneasy.
He wouldn't be able to gain much from Senior Sister Ye. With her good temper, she likely wouldn't hit him.
However, though he thought so, the words that came to his lips changed their flavor.
"Senior Sister, there's an odd smell about you. Other senior sisters smell like fragrant pollen, so why is there a stinky scent on you?"
"Senior Sister, mastering your skills is important, but personal hygiene is important too. You should bath when it's time to bath!"
Li Xiaobai nodded seriously, feeling that he was making a lot of sense.
Yet, he noted that the force of the acupuncture on his head seemed to pause for a moment. Could it be that Senior Sister Ye was getting angry?
"Giggle, it's just the smell of herbs. I just gathered them and haven't removed the scent yet!"
Ye Wushuang laughed cheerily, causing Li Xiaobai's heart to flutter.
With Senior Sister Ye being such a gentle and beautiful woman, it would be best not to offend her. He could foster good relations with her later.
Having made up his mind, Li Xiaobai closed his mouth.
But things weren't as simple as he imagined.
After a few more jabs above his head, Ye Wushuang put away the needles, picked up her small medicine box, and without turning back, she left.
"Junior Brother Li, take good care of yourself."
"Hmm, thank you, Senior Sister."
Li Xiaobai always felt that Senior Sister was not just comforting him—something felt strange. Nevertheless, the swelling on his face did indeed subside quite a bit.
Senior Sister's remedial techniques were spot on, only, she did not seem fond of bathing, which was not a good habit.
Humming a cheerful tune, Li Xiaobai continued his descent down the mountain. Before he had taken two steps, a system prompt arrived.
[Attribute Point +20.]
[Attribute Point +20.]
[...]
The prompts kept coming continuously.
What's going on?
He hadn't been attacked, so where were these attribute points coming from?
He looked around; there was no one else in the vicinity, and Senior Sister Ye had already walked far away.
A tinge of panic stirred within him as he carefully recalled the recent events.
That's right, Ye Wushuang!
Li Xiaobai suddenly remembered the chills he had felt in his heart earlier.
It was said that those proficient in medicine could also employ poison—could it be that Ye Wushuang had meddled with something?
Recalling that delicate face, Li Xiaobai shivered without reason.
The system's continuous tally of attribute points prompted him to frantically search himself, finally discovering an anomaly on his ankle.
A black spot of unremarkable size had appeared on the edge of his ankle.
It truly was Ye Wushuang's doing; to place a needle on the head and manage to transmit the toxin directly to the foot—her technique was too cunning.
Luckily, Senior Sister had only administered a minor punishment and had not left him paralyzed; the system prompts ceased after a while.
Indeed, one must never offend a beautiful woman.
He checked the attribute panel.
[Attribute Point: 100.]
He channeled all the attributes into defense once more. Currently, he was still unaware of the correlation between defensive power and the strength of cultivators in this world—erring on the side of caution was better.
Who was to blame when those around him were too powerful?
Causing him to have no standards for comparison whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the system panel underwent another change.
[Skill acquired: Paralytic Toxin.]
[Continuous damage detected, Paralytic Toxin upgraded: Muscle Flaccidity.]
Muscle Flaccidity: Everyone within a one-meter radius of oneself is in a state of muscle flaccidity; the longer the duration, the more severe the symptoms.
He must thank Ye Wushuang for this skill which granted him an area-effect ability.
Li Xiaobai was quite pleased; this was his first decent offensive skill.
Muscle Flaccidity paired with Hatred Hundred Percent was a perfect combination. If he could withstand attacks in future fights, his adversaries would grow progressively weaker, putting him in an invincible position.
...
At the foot of the mountain,
As Li Xiaobai exited the gate of the mountain, the surrounding disciples couldn't help but halt their steps, observing him with timid gazes.
Whispers circulated.
"Did you see? That person came down from Misty Peak!"
"I saw it, we rarely see him on a normal day, no question—he's another formidable one!"
"Senior Brothers, may I ask what does it mean for someone to be a strong person from Misty Peak? I'm new here and not very knowledgeable!"
"Oh come on, you don't know? Let me tell you, Misty Peak is a mountain developed under the special care of the Sect Leader, housing only seven Inner Sect Disciples. But it's said each disciple of Misty Peak is a cultivation maniac, their strength not inferior to that of True Disciples!"
"I know that about half a year ago, Misty Peak's fourth disciple, Yang Chen, got into a conflict with the third Elder's True Disciple. He initiated a duel on the fighting platform and inflicted severe injuries on the opponent, rumored to have been a one-hit KO!"
"That strong?"
"So I'm telling you, if you see a disciple coming down from Misty Peak whom you have never seen before, be cautious. They could be a cultivation prodigy emerging from extended seclusion!"
"Moreover, with the grand ceremony approaching, people from Misty Peak coming down at this time are likely probing the True Disciples' strength. There might be another fierce battle on our hands. At times like this, we better not join the crowd, lest we get caught in the crossfire."